Vehicle telematics systems are increasingly popular, and new telematics devices are put into service on an ongoing basis as new customer devices are activated. However, devices are also sometimes removed from service for various reasons. For example, a customer may no longer need telematics service, or may cease use of a certain device to begin use of another device.
Whatever the cause, the deactivation of telematics units can impede future actions with respect to such a device, e.g., reactivation, data gathering, shut down, etc. For example, if a user has had a vehicle telematics module (hereinafter “telematics module”) deactivated and then subsequently sells the vehicle, the new user may wish to reactivate the inactive module. Typically, this requires a complex sequence of steps that is a burden and cost on service providers. As another example, a service provider may wish to collect data, e.g., for statistical analysis or network problem solving, from a deactivated module, but this is typically a difficult task given to the device is deactivated. Similarly, a service provider may wish to completely shut down a device that has been deactivated but that is nonetheless causing network interference. Such a service provider may however have difficulty contacting and controlling the device due to its deactivated status.